Holidays or feasts in celebration for a good harvest are practices
that have a long history in agricultural cultures but the current
tradition
of celebrating a Day of Thanksgiving (in contrast to a Day of Fasting)
appears to originate with the Pilgrims and Puritans who came to the
New World (i.e., North America). Here is a quote from the
Wikipedia entry on Thanksgiving that provides more details:
|In the English tradition, days of thanksgiving and special
|thanksgiving religious services became important during
|the English Reformation in the reign of Henry VIII and in
|reaction to the large number of religious holidays on the
|Catholic calendar. Before 1536 there were 95 Church holidays,
|plus 52 Sundays, when people were required to attend church
|and forego work and sometimes pay for expensive celebrations.
|The 1536 reforms reduced the number of Church holidays to 27,
|but some Puritans wished to completely eliminate all Church
|holidays, including Christmas and Easter.
NOTE: The Puritans of Boston actually banned the practice
of celebrating Christmas as well as festivities on Saturday
nights. According to the Wiki entry on the Protestant Reformation:
|The Pilgrims of New England disapproved of Christmas and
|celebration was outlawed in Boston from 1659 to 1681. The
|ban was revoked in 1681 by Sir Edmund Andros, who also
|revoked a Puritan ban against festivities on Saturday night.
|Despite the removal of the ban, it wouldn't be until the middle
|of the 19th century that Christmas would become a popular
|holiday in the Boston region.[29]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_Reformation
I guess the arrival of Irish Catholics also did a lot for the
celebration of Christmas as well as Saturday night. ;-)
Continuing the previous quote:
|The holidays were to be replaced by specially called Days of Fasting
|or Days of Thanksgiving, in response to events that the Puritans
|viewed as acts of special providence. Unexpected disasters or
|threats of judgment from on high called for Days of Fasting.
|Special blessings, viewed as coming from God, called for Days
|of Thanksgiving. For example, Days of Fasting were called on
|account of drought in 1611, floods in 1613, and plagues in 1604
|and 1622. Days of Thanksgiving were called following the victory
|over the Spanish Armada in 1588 and following the deliverance of
|Queen Anne in 1705. An unusual annual Day of Thanksgiving began
|in 1606 following the failure of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605 and
|developed into Guy Fawkes Day.[3]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving
Lest one might quibble that Thanksgiving Day is just an U.S. holiday,
it is useful to know that other nations also celebrate a version of
Thanksgiving thought on different dates. Consider:
Canada - observed on the second Monday in October (unless
you're in New Brunswick or Nova Scotia, eh?),,
Grenada - October 25; Thank Ronald Reagan and not the Puritans
for that one
Liberia:- First Thursday of November; see:
http://www.emansion.gov.lr/2press.php?news_id=1709related=20pg=spsub=41
The Netherlands - Pilgrims at the Plymouth Plantation also came
from here; The Pieterskerk church in Leiden has a morning
non-denominational commemoration on the morning of the
U.S. Thanksgiving
Norfolk Island, Australia - celebrates Thanksgiving the last Wednesday
of November; originated by American Whalers who stopped there.
Germany - Erntedankfest is an October harvest festival with
religious significance -- coincidentally, Octoberfest occurs around
the same time.
Japan - Labor Thanksgiving Day takes place on November 23
and was created during the U.S. occupation of Japan after WWII
but historically is a harvest ceremony (i.e., Niiname-sai).
Above based on the Wiki entry on Thanksgiving.
So, whether you celebrate Thanksgiving in the U.S. style or not,
here's wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving Day.
Just remember a couple of points:
(1) No political discussions, religious discussion, the sexual
activities
of various family members (unless, of course, you have a situation
like that in the movie August: Osage County).
(2) There is NO law that requires you to watch a football game
today. And I don't mean soccer.
(3) Even if you don't celebrate Thanksgiving with its overeating,
overdrinking, having to be with people you don't like/argue with,
and all of the rest of crap that has come with the commercialization
of the holiday, try to take a moment to think of what you are
genuinely grateful for but forget in the hecticness of everyday life.
Even if it is only one thing, think about it, cherish it, and be
grateful
for it. Give thanks for it to what deity you believe in or that in the
organization of physical universe, you are so lucky to have at least
this one thing.
-Mike Palij
New York University
m...@nyu.edu
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